The Progressive Label and Ideological Assessment

• In Event: Parties and Ideologies in American Politics

Abstract

Despite increasing levels of ideological polarization among party elites, activists, and partisans, only Republican Party elites consistently and explicitly identify their ideological dispositions as conservatives. Democrats tend to shy away from calling themselves liberals and instead identify as progressives. What effect does this label have on how candidates and citizens are viewed? We argue that the progressive label communicates ideological information suggesting that the person associated with the label holds a more liberal ideological position, but less so than an explicit liberal label would suggest. We find strong support for our expectations using data drawn from three survey experiments. Our findings suggest that the progressive label offers candidates a strategic means by which to communicate their left-leaning ideological and issue preferences while avoiding the unpopular reputation of the word liberal.

Authors

• Kevin K. Banda, Texas Tech University

• John Cluverius, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Lilliana Hall Mason, University of Maryland, College Park

• Hans Noel, Georgetown University